Edwards Heads to Texas with Stewart on His Heels

FORT WORTH, TX - Carl Edwards enters Texas leading the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings by eight points over Tony Stewart. Edwawrds has earned one win, 16 top-five, 23 top-10 finishes and two poles this season. He has accumulated three wins at the 1.5-mile Texas track, the most of any active Sprint Cup driver. Edwards' average NSCS start at Texas is 15.0 and his average finish is 16.5. He is one of only two drivers to win both the spring & fall events in the same year at Texas.

"Texas is one of our strong points," Edwards said, "I feel really good about going there, especially the way our Roush Fenway Fords run there. Texas is different than any track we go to just because of the atmosphere. It's one of the biggest races of the year. The fans, sponsors and drivers all know it, there is a lot on the line and there is a lot of pride in winning a race there."

According to NASCAR's Loop Statistics, Edwards ranks fourth in laps led with 479 in the past 13 races. He has also turned 288 of the track's fastest laps, which is second best. He has a driver rating of 98.3, fifth best among active drivers.

"I think we are all looking forward to racing at Texas this weekend. We kind of held our breath through Talladega and Martinsville, so I'm glad those are behind us and we came away with decent finishes. Historically Texas has been a really good track for Roush Fenway teams, and Carl has three Cup wins there, so we're planning on another strong run on Sunday," Crew Chief Bob Osborne said.

The Aflac team will be unloading the car last raced at Charlotte in October where Edwards finished third.